Shoe-lace retainer.



P. M. WILLIS.

SHOE LACE RETAINER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11| 1910.

Patented J an. 24, 19,1 1.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

FRiEDERICK MILTON WILLIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOE-LACE RETAINER.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Fianonmcii MILTON W ILLIs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county' and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Shoe-Lace Retainer, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvement-s in devices adapted to be secured to or carried by shoes for receiving and retaining the ends of the shoe laces to prevent the latter from becoming accidentally untied.

In my improved construction, I provide a member which is secured to the body of the shoe adjacent the upper edge thereof, and is so constructed that it will receive and resiliently retain the bow of the knot in the shoe lace, and be partly concealed thereby and will independently receive the free end of the shoe lace.

The device is very simple in construction and may be very readily attached. When in use, it is inconspicuous and does not present any sharp edges or points which could possibly injure or tear the lower edge of a garment adjacent thereto.

One specific form of the device will be described hereinafter, together with many of the advantages of the same, and the scope of the invention will be defined in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a shoe provided with my improved lace fastening device; Fig. 2 is a section through a portion of the top of the shoe, showing the construction of the device; Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the shoe with the device attached thereto.

My improved device is illustrated as including two pairs of separate elements independently secured to a shoe adjacent the upper edge thereof and upon opposite sides of the lacing. Of the two elements of each pair, one comprises an eyelet 10, while the other comprises a resilient catch or retainer 11. The eyelet does not differ materially from the common form of eyelets used in shoes, and through which the lacing is eX- tended. Such eyelets are commonly in the form of rings extending through the wall Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 11, 1910. Serial No. 537,458.

Yatented Jan. 24, 1911.

of the shoe and extending into engagement with the opposite surface of the latter. The retaining member 11 is preferably formed of metal and is secured to the wall of the shoe at a short distance below the eyelet l0.

The fastening means for the member 11 may be of any suitable kind, but preferably it is in the form of an eyelet l2, the body portion of the member being formed integral with the flange of the eyelet l2 and extending downwardly therefrom and thence upwardly to form a loop 13. The bent or loop portion is preferably flattened transversely of the member to form a resilient or spring connection, while the free end ofthe member is flattened in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the adjacent portion of the shoe. This outer or free end is provided with an aperture 14: therethrough, which is of suflicient size t0 receive the shoe lacing, and this free end .is so disposed that it is normally pressed into the eyelet 10, as is indicated particularly in Fig. 2. The curved under edge of the free end of the member 11 fits down into the aperture of the eyelet, so that the latter con stitutes a socket or receiver for said free end.

In attaching my improved fastener to the shoe, the eyelet 10 is placed closely adjacent the upper edge of the shoe and at a very short distance from the line of hooks or eyelets with which the lacing normall engages. The member l1 is supported below the eyelet, so that the member extends upward vertically. After the shoe is laced in the ordinary manner and the bow is formed, the entire bow may be slipped beneath the member l1, so as to rest in the bend or loop 13 thereof and be prevented from freely swinging or becoming untied. If desired, and in fact, preferably, only the inner portion of the loop is slipped beneath the member 11, so that the outer portion of the loop will lie outside of the member and partially conceal the latter. I have not so illustrated the loop in Fig. 1, as it is desired to illustrate the construction as clearly as possible. After the loop is secured in position, the free or tying end of the lacing is inserted through the aperture 14; thus the loop and the tying end are independently secured in position and the tying end serves to prevent the loop from becoming displaced from its position in the rear of the member 11.

Having thus described my invention, I

LLI

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A shoe lacing retainer, comprising two members, one of said members comprising an eyelet, and the other of said members having an eyelet and a body portion connected thereto, said body portion being flattened adjacent its eyelet, to resiliently supn port the free end of said body, said free end having an opening therethrough in a direction parallel to the adjacent surface of the shoe, and said free end being normally .l pressed into the lrst-mentioned eyelet.

2. A shoe lace retainer, comprising aspring metal member extending substantially vertically below the upper edge of the shoe and spaced from and independent of FREDERICK MILTON WILLIS.

l/Vitnesses C. W. FAIRBANK, PHILIP D. RoLLHAUs. 

